Black Wings
by Solaris10
Summary: A continuation of my story Protector. Archer and Capricorn are back and Jack and the Guardians are needed once again. Or is there something much much worse going on? Happy Valentines day and happy readings! Rated T for safety Jamie makes an appearance as well.


Archer's POV

"Quit whining Pitch." I growled at the man who was splayed on the floor in his prison. Light emanated from the walls meaning there were no shadows for Pitch to slip into. I knew he would break out eventually but this would hold him for a good long time maybe even a time people could consider forever.

"Oh Archer!" I heard a voice call happily. I groaned. It was my brother, Capricorn. He was the other protege that Cupid had trained. He was Cupid's favorite. What did I mean? We still took orders from Cupid occasionally but for the most part his home was on a secluded island that he never left anymore. He had passed his powers onto us but he preferred my brother to me simply because my brother was more like Cupid than I was.

"What is it Cap?" I called to Capricorn. When we had first started I was to be in charge of the lovey dovey crap that Cap now took care of. Lovers and high school crushes. Yuck! But when Cupid saw I had no affinity for it and that Capricorn had no chance at keeping families safe he reluctantly switched us. Thankfully that was before he had transferred his powers to us. I say 'powers' very loosely by the way.

"I can tell somebody's got a crush on you!" Cap sang as he came into view. He was blonde and blue eyed. Quite good looking really. He was on the chubby side but it wasn't like Cupid had been. It was just a small layer of chub that gave him a softer appearance so his muscles weren't as prominent. While I walked around fully clothed, Cap walked or flew around in a little white loincloth. Okay, it was more of a skirt but still. No shirt and a pair of flimsy sandals hardly count as clothing.

"Shut it." I groaned at him. This wasn't the first time he pulled this. When we first started I wasn't as good at hiding in the shadows and one of the people I was helping saw me. Capricorn was furious with me at first because the idiot refused to fall in love with anyone else. Something about me always being in his head was Cap's thing. The point was it almost caused us a bit of trouble. Then Cap managed to fix it but I haven't let anyone see me since.

"I'm not mad Archy!" Cap grinned at me this time then his smile turned into a frown. "Will you stop that? He's not getting out." I rolled my eyes and turned back to Capricorn.

"What do you want?" I sighed rubbing the bridge of my nose.

"You know eventually somebody is going to see you." Cap smiled at me as he motioned for me to follow him. We were on a smaller island that was part of a string of small islands that Cupid lived on. We lived on the far island and Cupid didn't usually interfere with us unless something was wrong or he wanted our help.

"But they don't believe in me." I sighed once again explaining to my brother that it was no good.

"Then why do you hide in the shadows?" He grinned.

"Just in case. You know that as well as I do." I sighed.

"Then you know Jack's going to start breaking hearts left and right when teenagers start seeing him." Capricorn shook his head.

"And I care because?" I asked him.

"Aren't you supposed to protect children too?" He said looking at me with a frown.

"You're the one who deals with all that love stuff. I'm no good at that and you know it!" I growled as we go to the walkway. The island was tropical and was always blooming. Cupid lived on top of the mountain in a large cloud palace. Capricorn and I lived in a small three room hut that was right on the beach. We were barely ever at the islands anyway but it was where we called home.

"But Jack has a crush on you." He poked my shoulder with a big grin on his face.

"Can't you undo it or something?" I asked him. I knew better than to argue that point with him. He knew these things. It was his job for pete's sake! But at my question he snorted derisively.

"We've been at this for almost five hundred years Archy." He stated almost glaring at me.

"And for almost five hundred years I've been telling you to stop calling me Archy too. What's your point." I snapped at him.

"You've been getting meaner and meaner every year. You need to have some fun! And Jack is the guardian of fun! That's the perfect match!" He glowed talking about us. He'd been trying to set me up with other immortals for nearly one hundred years now.

"Don't you remember the last time you tried to set me up with someone?" I asked raising an eyebrow at him. Cap frowned.

"They all blur together anymore." He shrugged. "Is that the one you shot or hung by his toes?" He asked me with a small smile.

"Neither." I grinned with him. "I pinned his hand to the table with a knife when he tried to get near me."

"Right! I forgot about that." Cap said thoughtfully. I laughed and Capricorn smiled at me but didn't say anything else. The rest of the walk to our little house was peaceful. Cap and I were enjoying a day off before we had to go back out into the world by watching the sunset together. "Just think, in a few thousand years or so we may get to retire and come back here to live permanently."

"And that's my cue to go. Some little girl in Belarus needs help with some bullies." I said giving Cap a cocky grin before letting my wings fold out of my back. My bow was always on my back as was my quiver but I still had a full range of motion with them because of them being magical, for one thing, and the design was ingenious. The quiver was flat and although I did make my own arrows they self replicated when I needed them too. The bow was a full size bow that would grow as soon as I touched it but was small enough to fit comfortably on my back with with quiver. They sat in a cross so that when I rolled they were out on the sides and not actually on my back. My shirt, I did have to replace it thanks to Pitch, was a basically thin black kevlar vest that had slits in the back where my wings came out. I didn't have sleeves but I always wore my archery wrist guards on both hands along with heavier black fingerless gloves just because I could shoot either way and some of my weapons were a little bit sharper.

"Be careful! And remember you can't run forever!" Cap called laughing as I flew away. In reality we had another day of vacation left but Cap knew I was eager to get back to work. Cap always said I should wait but I couldn't. I hated taking time off in the first place but as Cap thought my job was harder he always managed to sucker me into a day off. I had been traveling back to our little island more as of late because I wanted to check on Pitch and make sure he was still as uncomfortable as he was the day I put him in there.

I flashed to Belarus to find the girl and her father. Her little brother was there and terrified in a corner. I pulled out one of my little throwing knives. I blew on it and the metal shifted in my hand. Etched into the blade was the greek word ασφάλεια meaning safety. I tossed it at the little boys head and I watched as I hit him dead center in the forehead. He jerked and then stopped crying and watched his sister carefully. I knew now I had to be very careful because if I stepped out of the shadows he might see me. I pulled my bow and nocked an arrow made from a single piece of wood. The point was blunted and the feathers were my own. I aimed at the little girl and let the arrow fly. Even though her father had her arms and was swinging her around roughly my aim was perfect. Perfected after four hundred and ninety three years of practice. She looked at her father and a determined look came to her face.

"I'm not afraid of you." She said. Her father looked angry. He smacked her hard across the cheek.

"No!" The little boy cried. He was scared for his sister. I wasn't supposed to do anymore. But I could feel the little boy and the girl. They loved each other so much. She radiated protection for him. For her two year old baby brother. I steeled myself and pulled myself out of the shadows. I nocked another arrow. This one looked like oak and was fletched with some leaves from one of the plants that lived on our island. Without another thought I let it go. It hit him in the back. He was so caught up in beating the little girl that he barely noticed. Only when he could barely breath did he stop. The little girl fell from his arms and her brother ran to her dragging her away and calling the cops. I didn't watch anything else. I left for the next job.

Bullies. More abusive parents. Homesick children. Mother's giving their children the talk. Betrayal felt by teens who were told no by their parents. Cases of incest. Fights among siblings. Marines dying by their brothers. Friends standing up for one another. A mother giving her life to save her son. Foster care children trying to protect each other. Another mother dying in child birth. SEAL's dying with their units. Adopted children finding out they aren't part of the family really. A daughter being disowned for not obeying her family. A son protecting his father during a store robbery. Best friends fighting over the same boy. Wash, rinse and repeat. The times may have changed but the sense of betrayal and love that people felt for one another never has and it never will. What I told Jack wasn't strictly true.

I did see the occasional heart warming moment where a mother protected her child but that wasn't my job. My job was messy. There were casualties and people caught in the cross fire. My brother dealt with the crushes and the people in love. On Valentines day he was celebrated and people gave each other gifts of love and things. But behind closed doors those same people were the ones in broken relationships. Protecting them was my job. I was appreciated by a select few on holidays like mother's day and fathers day. I worked hardest on those holidays. Veterans day was always a struggle with all those souls who were still lost being forced to think about what they'd done, what they'd seen. And that that was only one day.

In other words, yes, I pulled the short end of the stick. I got the crap job. The one nobody appreciates but does the most work. Did I ever let my brother know that? Of course not. It was part of me to protect. I protected him from what I really did. Sometimes I protected children by giving keeping the fear away as they passed into a world where nobody could hurt them anymore. It was dark and lonely. But it was my job. I was long past what Cupid had taught me. I was in territory no immortal had gone into and come out unscathed before. The difference was my brother. I had to protect him because as Cupid had told me, if I fail then everything goes to him. Everything I dealt with would be shoved onto his already heaping plate. I protected him. It was my job.

Capricorn's POV

I watched as Archer flew away and then vanished. She had changed in the past five hundred years. Her eyes had hardened and she was quicker on the trigger. She had more skill that I ever did on the bow. Though we were both very good. It seemed as though her skills had gone from just the bow to other weapons that she used in her job. She never talked about who she protected anymore though I knew she had to stop bullies and abusive parents. We both dealt with more than just children. But I was worried about her. And keeping Pitch in that cell was only worrying me more. She would come back fairly often to check on him. Only staying for short periods of time. Five minutes at the most. I knew she got less than fifteen hours of sleep a week. I knew she was hiding from me. I also knew she dealt with more than I ever could. Cupid and I had talked about it. He had watched her go from a kinder sweeter, though she was never really that sweet or kind to anyone but me, girl to a formidable warrior.

"Cupid, you busy?" I found myself at his palace once again. He smiled and sent the girls away. He wore a robe with little white wings sticking out the back. His golden bow was sitting on a pedestal unused for years and yes he wore a white diaper.

"Archer again?" He asked me with a sigh. I nodded. "Alright. Talk. I'll listen and you know I won't tell a soul." He smiled at me.

"Ever since the battle with Pitch where she let the Guardians see her she's gotten even worse." I told him sitting on a cloud he waved over.

"How so?" He asked me.

"She barely even talks to me anymore. She's never around and I know she's not sleeping." I sighed.

"The insomnia isn't new Capricorn. Did she ever associate with the other immortals?" He asked me.

"Only a few. Old Man Winter, the Headless Horseman and occasionally the Reaper. I don't think the others even know she exists." I told him with another sigh. "A few know about me but we both have kept on the lower end of life as we've been too busy to really make trouble." Cupid grinned at me.

"You are referring to Jack Frost I take it?" He asked.

"Yeah." I smiled sheepishly. "Three hundred years and he quickly made a name for himself as a trickster. I avoided him like the plague hoping Archer wouldn't shoot him out of the sky for trying to mess with me." I moaned.

"You did quite well. Archer was the one to give up the secret eventually." Cupid said. I nodded. Cupid sighed and then continued. "Go talk to the Winter windbag and the Halloween spirits and see if she's seen either of them recently. We can see if we can help her from there." I nodded and let my wings come out. My wings were pure white like Cupid's. Bigger than his but only the size of my arms. It was magic that kept me going. I couldn't go as fast as Archer either which was a drag when I had so many things to do in so little time. But I flew off and managed to find Old Man Winter in an igloo making ice sculptures of demonic faces and what looked like dead children before he would smash them.

"Old Man Winter?" I called into his igloo.

"What!" He yelled. I flinched but talked anyway.

"Umm my name is Capricorn and I'm Cupid's replacement but you may know my sister-"

"Archer." He finished for me looking me over. He laughed crazily and started muttering to himself. He started another sculpture that was my sister but it wasn't turning out right. He finished it and set it aside. I looked over to where he put it and found probably a hundred more like it. "She hasn't been here in a long time. When is she going to come visit me again?" He asked me almost sounding sane.

"I'm not sure but I'll tell her you miss her. She's been dealing with a lot recently though." I said looking at him.

"She hides from me." He cackled suddenly before he was suddenly very mellow. "She keeps me in here and makes sure I'm okay. I tell her about my day and she listens. Nobody else listens to me anymore."

"I'm sure they just don't realize what they're missing." I said trying to stay calm and not roll my eyes. "When was the last time she was here?"

"I made sculptures today." He told me grinning proudly. "I made penguins and-"

"I'm really busy and I just need to know the last time Archer dropped by and talked with you." I sighed letting some of my exasperation bleed through my voice. Old Man Winter eyes me critically and angrily. Suddenly he chucked a large sculpture of a polar bear at me.

"No!" Archer was there, in front of me. She caught it and gently set it down. "I don't know what you're doing her but you need to leave." She hissed at me.

"But what about-"

"I'll deal with him. Now get out before you get hurt." She growled. I obliged and left hoping she knew what she was doing. I let my wings out and flew to where I figured the Halloween spirits were. I quickly found the headless horseman.

"You must be Capricorn." He smiled when he saw me.

"I am. So you know my sister Archer then?" I asked him. He nodded. His head was a pumpkin but I could ignore that for now. "When was the last time you saw her?" I asked him.

"When she saved me from some crazy townsfolk April 7th, 2012." He said. "We had a lovely time after that but she does do quite a lot of work and so she hasn't visited me for quite some time." He watched me a second. "Is there any reason you ask? I wouldn't normally even admit to knowing Archer except that you are her brother."

"I think something's wrong and I just wanted to know if she was confiding in you." I told him with a sigh. I wasn't any closer than I was before. "How often did she visit you before that?" I asked him.

"Oh she'd drop in for an hour or so every month. I was surprised when she didn't come in April but she'd been telling me how much she had to do recently so I didn't worry." He said casually.

"It's almost been a year since she last visited you." I said worried.

"Ten months technically." Then he looked at me hard. "Don't you have a holiday coming up?"

"I do but I had to check on my sister before." I hesitated.

"I won't mention you were here if she comes knocking." He smiled at me. "And the reaper she talks to is due down the street in five minutes so you might want to hurry." He grinned.

"Thanks!" I waved and ran out the door. He lived in a small community of older Halloween spirits that weren't quite retired but weren't as active as they were long ago. I got to the corner and watched for a reaper. He never showed up and I didn't have any more time to wait after an hour so I left and just thought about what the Headless Horseman told me. I just watched her when I could for the next month. That was whenever she was sleeping at home. It wasn't often I caught her. In fact I hadn't seen her much at all in the past three hundred years. I always knew she was keeping an eye on me but I couldn't do the same. My abilities weren't the same as hers and as she started to be at our little house less and less I saw less of her. She was helping me out on Valentines day but then she disappeared and I didn't see her for an entire week. After my week's break I found myself back in Cupid's palace telling him what was happening.

"You said Jack had a crush on her?" Cupid asked me again. Then waving he continued. "I can feel it a bit. Go to the Guardians. See if they can help. It sounds like she's taken on more than she can chew and she's hiding herself from me. You have been handling your work well but she's deep in something I never intended. You need help now that this has gotten so out of control." He sighed and dismissed me. I opened my wings and flew towards the North Pole. I hate cold weather. Suddenly I hit a barrier.

"Stupid magic barrier." I grumbled as I shivered and fought my way towards the house on the cliff. When I finally got there one of the yetis saw me and grunted something. "I'm here to see the Guardians. I need their help." I chattered. The yeti stared at me and finally sighed pulling me inside. He dragged me unceremoniously to a big office that was warm and cheerful. And of course Christmas lights were everywhere.

"Phil! What is this? You know we don't bring other immortals here except the guardians! Oh he does look cold. Very well friend." Then the yeti said something sounding rather defensive and North rolled his eyes but nodded sending the yeti away.

"That was Phil. You said you need our help. Who are you anyway?" He asked looking at me.

"My name is Capricorn. You already know my sister Archer." I shivered as I tried to speak without my teeth chattering too much.

"Ahhh! You are cupid!" He cried suddenly. "Come come! Sit! I will have some hot chocolate brought up." A yeti standing in the corner left suddenly leaving me alone with the big Russian. "So Archer told us she was working with another. How is Cupid anyway?" He asked.

"He's well. You know him, he still makes his rounds every fifty or so years but it's mostly my job now anyway." I grinned already warmer from the fire. The yeti came in and handed me a cup. "Thanks." I told him sipping it.

"Give me moment. I will call the others." He said. He came back in a few minutes later to find that I had my wings out and warming them by the fire. He was watching me but he didn't say anything just letting me make myself comfortable.

"What is it mate?" A giant rabbit suddenly asked. I knew this was E. Aster Bunnymund the guardian of hope and the immortal of Easter.

"This is Capricorn, Bunny. He says he needs our help." Santa said.

"North, you can't just call us all in for that." Bunny sighed.

"Sandy! I know it is good to be back again even if you visited yesterday." North, now that I had a name, told a little gold man. The Sandman.

"Jack's not far behind me!" A rainbow flashed by me. Suddenly a window opened and a very cold gust of air blew in.

"Frostbite!" Bunny called sounding irritated. Though I was getting the feeling he was a very irritated person.

"Sorry Bunny." A teen in a blue sweatshirt said as he closed the window.

"I have to admit Jack that was rather cold." The fairy said. Obviously Toothiana. And the boy was Jack Frost.

"We have a guest who needs our help." North said bringing all their attention to me.

"Yes, Sandy, he is Archer's partner. He's the other one who's taken over for Cupid though his name is Capricorn." North introduced me. I pulled my wings back into my back trying to keep the blush off my face.

"You look nothing like your sister." Jack said looking at me. He was right. I had blond hair and blue eyes and a slight build. I wasn't chubby but I wasn't muscled like Archer was.

"None the less. She is my sister and I need your help." I told them ready to plead already.

"Why don't we ask you some questions and then we'll see if we can help you." Tooth smiled at me hovering near the giant pooka. Sandy poked North who looked down and was reading the pictures that were flashing over Sandy's head.

"Of course Sandy! Is Pitch still locked up?" North asked me.

"That prison he's in is of my sister's own design. Of course he hasn't escaped and he's still miserable." I told them feeling a little protective of her. I wasn't worried she would come running. She only did that if I was in real danger and it didn't seem like I was now.

"Alright so why haven't we seen either of you around for the last four hundred years?" Bunny asked this time.

"We were too busy to introduce ourselves to the other spirits and many people actually do mistake me for the original Cupid, though I have introduced myself to a few spirits here and there." I told him.

"What about Archer?" Jack asked. I gaped at him. He was on the crook of his staff and nothing was holding it or him up. Just the end of the stick.

"Ummm I guess she just doesn't like attention." I shrugged not knowing what to say.

"Why couldn't you have gone to some other spirits of help?" North asked this time.

"Because I don't think they're powerful enough to help me." I said looking at them. "And I'm not sure they would anyway. Archer isn't someone lots of people ever meet or know but there are rumors about her and they aren't exactly inviting. She helped you against Pitch and so I came because I know you would help her in return."

"Is she okay?" Jack asked sounding worried.

"No, she's not okay. And she hasn't been for a long time." I sighed.

"What do you want us to do?" North asked curious.

"It's complicated." I sighed again. "I'm desperate here okay? I know she had a lot of work to start out with but then it seemed like she got busier and busier as the years went on. She was gone more than she was home. Her smile disappeared and then it turned into a fake smile that she gave me trying to put me at ease I suppose." I felt a sad smile on my face. "Her eyes lost that sparkle of fun and love that comes with our job and she acquired an edge to her. I know she sees things that a lot of us don't and not all of it is good but after the battle with you her already terrible sleeping habits got worse and she'd drop in just to check on Pitch, then she'd glare at him for a few minutes and leave, not even bothering to come to her room." I spilled the beans.

"It sounds like cupid's plan of splitting up the work isn't working." Bunny said staring at me thoughtfully. Jack was watching snow out the open window.

"He thinks she took on something that wasn't part of the deal originally. That something happened and now she's trying to deal with it in the best way she can. But she's falling apart at the seams! And I don't know what to do but she's always there for me! I know Jack cares for her so I though you could help me." I finally said.

Jack's POV

"I don't even know where we'd start." Tooth said looking around sadly.

"No! We already know! Think about what happened to us last year!" North said. "We were too caught up in our jobs! We needed to have fun!"

"So what, we find her and do what?" Bunny asked. Sandy had a picture of Archer and us fighting together and I could tell what he meant.

"We find her and we help her like we helped Tooh." I said looking back at them. Capricorn looked at me thoughtfully.

"Fine, we do owe her after all. Alright mate, where's your sister?" Bunny asked. Capricorn turned to him.

"I don't have a clue. Her job covers the entire globe and she is fast. She could be on her way to America or somewhere in Bolivia. All I can say is that after five hundred years of hiding in shadows, she's very good at what she does." He said and I could hear the sadness in his voice.

"Does she know you're worried about her?" Tooth asked the boy.

"I'm not sure she does but I can bet she knows. She can read me like a book." He grinned clearly lost in a memory.

"Any ideas on how to find her?" I asked him.

"My best answer is to search the globe." He said sounding irritated though not at me. "And when we find you Archy you're going to sit down and talk with us or we're going to force you to."

"Sandy, you go back to your thing and just keep an eye out for her. The yetis will take Antarctica and the Arctic. Capricorn you and Tooth take south of the equator. Bunny, Jack and I will search the northern area of the equator." North said and we all headed out.

"Why do you think he decided to introduce himself to us now?" Bunny asked after we were out of the tunnel and flying across the globe.

"Maybe she's in trouble. I don't think he's really prepared for a fight." I grinned thinking about the boy Archer called brother. "Of any kind." I chuckled.

"I wouldn't be so sure Jack. Cupid was always tougher than he looked." North cautioned.

"But at the same time I think Cupid gave Archer the fangs and gave Capricorn the fluffy." Bunny said.

"I agree but he loves his sister and I would hate to be anyone who got in his way when he's trying to protect her." North grinned.

"Come on North. I mean did you see that kid? Bunny could have taken him when he was a little rabbit!" I snorted.

"You're just comparing him to Archer." North laughed as Bunny scowled at me. "Though I will admit Archer is a force to be reckoned with." North said lowly.

"Aye mate. She's on a whole different level." Bunny added forgetting about what I'd said.

"We could have taken her if we needed to." I said thinking back to the fight. She was gorgeous and while she was fluid with her motions I didn't doubt we could actually take her down.

"Jack, she was only fighting hand to hand." Bunny said to me slowly. "She only took out her bow when Pitch was down and she didn't want him moving."

"And to freeze Pitch like that when he's in his element..." North shook his head. "I doubt we've seen everything she can do Jack. She's powerful. More powerful than Cupid probably ever intended."

"Which means we have to be extra careful mate." Bunny added. "We don't know how dangerous she is. I'm just glad she's on our side." He shuddered probably thinking of how the fight could have gone if she had shown up to assist Pitch. We scoured the globe. We were about to head back when I saw a black streak fly by.

"North!" I yelled and he saw and gave chase. We were gaining on her until she looked back. I could barely see her face contort in confusion and then irritation as she then dived. North followed her down until she broke through the clouds and then he couldn't find her. He was barely was able to pull his reindeer up from the deathly dive.

"Where'd the sheila go!" Bunny cried looking up.

"She couldn't have pulled out of that before we came through." I said grabbing my staff and jumping off the sleigh. The wind caught me and I shot towards the clouds.

"Jack!" North called. I stopped and he was following me. I looked back at the clouds and I saw that the clouds were storm clouds. Lightning was surging towards me and I had no time to do anything about it.

"You idiot!" I heard as a black blur stopped in front of me and grunted absorbing the hit. It was Archer. I was so surprised I didn't have time to catch her as she started to fall her body smoking. She was past the sleigh in seconds and North was struggling to turn his reindeer around. I shot down and grabbed her. Fortunately she fell backwards and her wings were sliding past the air. If they had caught any of the wind now they might have been broken or have sent her into a fall that would have meant certain death. I let the wind slow us down careful of her wings. They were huge and heavy though so all I could do was slow down our fall carefully as North finally caught us.

"Bunny! Help me with her wings!" I called as I pushed on one to fold it against her. With both wings spread she wasn't going to stay safe inside the sleigh. Bunny rushed over to her other side and grabbed what he could. Between both wings most of her was outside the sleigh. North slowed down so we weren't in danger of being clipped by a wing.

"I think we're going to have to work together Frostbite." Bunny finally said. I nodded and jumped out of the sleigh getting the part of her wing bunny couldn't reach and managing to fold it against her tightly. She was still out cold when we got the second wing against her.

"I suppose we should tell Tooth, Sandy and Capricorn." North said looking back at us. Bunny and I were sitting next to the girl sprawled in the sleigh. I observed her again as North pulled out a snow globe. Compared to her brother she was downright scary. Her brother's white wings were only half the size of hers and while he was taller than her she was definitely more imposing. Once again her brother, who wasn't all pudge but still wasn't stick thin either, had no visible muscles but her bare arms showed muscles. More muscle than I had even. Her biceps weren't huge but they were defined much like her shoulders. I could only imagine how nice the muscles on her back were. She was dressed in modern clothes to some degree. Her archer's guards showed lots of wear.

"She's wearing a light kevlar vest." I heard Bunny whisper with a shake of his head. On top of the kevlar vest, I'd ask what that was later, there were a strap the crossed her chest from her left shoulder to her right hip and another black leather strap was on top of that laying opposite the other strap. My bet was they led to the tube that held her bow and her quiver. Black cargo pants held pockets where I assumed she kept her extra weapons and below there she wore black combat boots.

"Get away from me." She moaned out.

"Archer you need to stay down we're still in the air and your wings will catch the wind." Bunny explained trying not to scare her.

"Yeah that's kinda the idea behind the feathers." She groaned opening one eye. The stormy blue was actually crackling with electricity. "Well wasn't that just fun." She snarked closing her eyes again.

"You were struck by lightning." I told her.

"Well indeed I was. I was stopping it from hitting you." Her voice just sounded like irritation.

"And Jack was just about to thank you for saving his life." Bunny said looking at me pointedly.

"Yeah, thanks for doing that. But I did save you from crashing into the ground." I told her.

"I wouldn't have died. There's too much to do for anything to happen to me." Archer said slowly opening her eyes again. The sparking was gone and they were back to the unreadable gray blue that just spoke of hidden depths.

"Wouldn't have been a soft landing though." Bunny told her.

"And every spirit needs a day or two off. The world will not stop revolving because you took a few days off." North added.

"And what about the people I help? What's going to happen to them?" She asked North seriously. "You remember what I do North?"

"We do and honestly I think it would be okay if you took some time off to take care of yourself." I told her.

"You have no idea." She said. "Alright nap times over. Thanks for the lift. I have to get back to-" She stopped as North was landing.

"Welcome to the North Pole." Bunny said.

"Right." She said. "Well this is a problem easily fixed." She stood up, her wings not disappearing but staying folded on her back. I thought back to folding them up with bunny. They were soft underneath the top feathers and near the top of her wings but the feathers that were lower were stiffer and not quite as welcoming.

"Archy!" Capricorn called. Archer froze and stiffened plastering a happy look on her face.

"Cap, what are you doing here? With them?" She asked him like a big sister would.

"Archer, you can't lie to me. I know you're not okay." Capricorn said.

"This again? I know your heart's in the right place but you need to realize how important our jobs are Cap. Humans are fragile and we both protect them. You protect their emotions and I protect them as well." She said with a small smile. I couldn't tell it was fake but Capricorn did not look impressed.

"Uh huh. Next you're going to tell me those bags under your eyes are from being punched by a fragile human." Capricorn said. I felt like I was watching the ultimate showdown. Archer wiped her eyes and Capricorn's scowl deepened.

"I was crying yesterday." Archer said looking at Capricorn. Capricorn shook his head in frustration but didn't give up.

"Fine, so you were crying because?" He asked.

"A bird pulled out one of my feathers." She said casually. "It really hurt." She said. Now that was a lie. I kinda figured she had a high pain tolerance. Capricorn wasn't buying it either. I could tell because he snorted after she said it.

"Yeah, and I was playing with one of your throwing knife things and ended up nailing you in the shoulder and you just laughed." Capricorn said and Tyler glared at him. "Not to mention how did a bird manage to catch you? I've seen how fast you fly. Birds don't even get a chance to get my wing feathers."

"Look, I don't know how it happened but it did." She said crossing her arms.

"Archy-"

"Archer!" She growled interrupting her brother.

"Archer." Capricorn rolled his eyes but complied. "We want to help you." Her eyes softened a bit when she looked at her brother. He was taller than her so she had to look up but he was only an inch or so taller. I had her by a good three inches at least.

"Cap, I'm fine. Quit worrying about me, you've got enough on your plate without me." Archer said looking at him softly. She was so sweet under the mask. If I hadn't been crushing on her before I was now. She just needed to have some fun and I could tell. Trust me. "Don't think I haven't noticed you're not sleeping well. The tossing and the turning?" She said looking at him.

"Valentine's day is coming up. Everything has to be perfect after the Pitch fiasco." Capricorn said crossing his arms.

"Relax. I'll be there to help you." Archer said boarding herself up again. She was slipping that mask of indifference on again and I already missed the caring sweet girl that loved her little brother.

"We can always lend a hand." Tooth said. "I love Valentine's day!" Tooth finished spinning in a whirl of colorful feathers. I grinned.

"I can lend a hand but my googies need to be ready for easter." Bunny said.

"We'll all help you Capricorn!" North clapped the boy on the back and almost threw him forward. Capricorn looked at North with a pained smile and rolled his shoulder but nodded. North chuckled and Archer watched her arms over her chest. Her wings still hadn't disappeared but she had her mask back in place. I made my way over to her side slowly so none of them noticed while they were all talking with Capricorn about what they would do.

"We can always lend you a hand too." I said quietly.

"Look Frost, my job is not something I take lightly. I see a lot of things that I just don't think you or the guardians are prepared for." Archer said keeping an eye on her brother. I sighed and reached back to touch her wings. "What are you doing?"

"I wanted to touch your wings." I said grinning.

"Didn't you already touch them once?" She sighed but her right wing, it was closer to me, pulled away from her back and stretched out a bit. Just a little, enough that it wasn't pulled tight against her. I felt my smile grow as she kept an eye on her brother and one on me.

"Come on, I want to show you something." I grabbed her hand and my staff with the other before letting the wind pick my feet up off the ground and shoot out of the room.

"Frost!" Archer yelped. I looked back and grinned as I pulled her along. She couldn't stretch her wings out in the workshop without being really careful. Capricorn wouldn't have had a problem but hers were so big and strong they would have knocked a yeti down or something so they were only halfway unfurled giving her some lift of her own as she was trying to keep on her feet and keep up with me.

"Come on tuck them in." I said grinning. She looked at me and only stretched them out a bit farther slowly stopping our progress. "Please Archer. Just let loose!" I pleaded and she rolled her eyes but her wings disappeared. I pulled her up with me and she wrapped and arm around my neck as we got higher in the workshop. I let go of her hand and put my arm around her back. "See? Not so bad is it?" I grinned at her mischievously. She just stared at me with her unreadable expression.

"It's nice, now what did you actually want to show me?" Archer asked making me laugh. I drifted down the the second level and landed. "Follow me." I grinned at her and she nodded. I walked down the corridors until we finally got to a door that had the guardians symbol on it and there was a little bit of snow leaking out from under the door.

"I take it this is your room." Archer said not sounding amazed.

"It is. You may want to pull out those feathers of yours Archy!" I grinned opening the door and dragging her in before letting her go on the ice that covered the floor. She almost lost her balance but as I suggested she let her wings fold out of her back to steady her. Closing the door I skated over to her.

"A miniature winter wonderland inside North's palace." She said ignoring that I had used her brother's nickname for her.

"Look closer." I said floating down to her. I had taken a lot of time to make the frost designs in here. And while it was all ice and snow it wasn't cold. Not really, North's magic I suppose, nothing ever melted but Babytooth never got cold while she was in here. Her eyes widened as she saw the frost patterns covering the walls. I watched as she looked around a smile tugging at the edge of her lips.

"Jack..." Archer said quietly still looking at the walls. I grinned and shot the ceiling. Snow started falling softly and her face broke into a genuine smile. "Snow. Ice. I forgot how pretty it could be." She said looking at me her eyes wide. I took her hand and pulled her towards me skating backwards. She looked surprised and then she laughed. It was happy. Her laugh made me smile. "I spend so much of my time in the cold and snow..." She broke off and looked at me like she'd been punched.

"Archer, what's wrong?" I asked her. She looked at me with a sad smile.

"If you only knew." She said closing her eyes. Her wings were quivering, the black feathers shaking and drooping.

"Tell me." I said pulling her closer until she was against my chest. She looked up at me, the bags under her eyes standing out against her skin. The dullness in her eyes couldn't even be diminished entirely by the little smile I'd brought to her eyes.

"I protect so many people, but the elements, like snow and ice, are deadly. Allergies from grass, chocolate, eggs and spring kill more people than you know. Love is the reason people used to start wars. I've been looking into the darkness for so long..." She broke off and looked to my walls not pulling away from me but clutching my sweatshirt. I wound my arms around her body avoiding her wings and hugged her. I had been alone for three hundred years but if what she was saying was what I thought it was then she needed all the comfort she could get.

"You lost sight of the beauty in life." I finished for her. Archer nodded wrapping her wings around us. I was enveloped in the black feathers and a sense of total safety as I just held her. She didn't cry just stood there for bit. Then she pulled away from me and I could see her mask go back on.

"Thanks Jack." Archer said and turned to leave.

"You know, it'd be easier if you let someone in." I told her already missing her warmth. I understood why I felt safe with her, it was part of her being a protector, but I missed the warmth that she made seem dangerous and thrilling like it had an edge of darkness to it.

"And if I did that I wouldn't be doing my job." Archer said looking back at me, her lips quirked up in a small but genuine smile.

"Fine, just one more thing before you go." I said thinking about her wings again.

"What Jack." She turned back to me seemingly impatient but I knew better now. She was a good person that put out a rough exterior to chase people off.

"Can I touch your wings again?"

"Why- never mind." Archer stopped herself and spread her wings back out. I drifted over careful as she watched me. I just looked at her wings. They were gorgeous. Pure black that made them look like velvet except for the shine that light brought to some of her feathers. They were powerful but soft to the touch. I reached out to her left wing that she was holding out to me and ran my hand along the top of it. I felt some of the muscles in the organ flex as I ducked under and traced my hands along the feathers as they ran down. Her wing was quivering a bit when I pushed my fingers under her top feathers to reach the soft downy ones underneath but she didn't say anything.

I let my hands roam her wing until I found the muscles at the base of her wing that attached it to her back. The slits in the back of her shirt were open and I could see the muscles in her back shifting under the feathers as she flexed her wing, probably to keep it from going numb. I could just see the power and I couldn't help it when I put my hand on the muscles in her back.

"Jack, what are you doing?" Archer interrupted my thoughts, and I ripped my hand away from the soft little feathers.

"Sorry, they looked really soft." I whispered, ashamed that I'd been caught. Of course how could I not end up getting caught. Archer looked at me for a second.

"Just stop it." She sighed and her wings pulled against her back hiding her little bit of exposed skin. She walked carefully towards my door and exited with one backwards glance and a hesitant smile. "Thanks Jack." I let the wind pick me up a bit and as she turned the corner I flew over to my bed and laid down. I let a smile break out on my face and then Babytooth came into the room chittering wildly.

"What's wrong Babytooth?" I asked her sitting up to cup her in my hand. Her chittering was fast and nervous. "Something about Archer?" Babytooth nodded. "She's not talking to her brother about it is she?" I sighed. Babytooth nodded again. "Alright come on. Let's see if we can get her to talk about it." I paused. "Again." Babytooth chittered, laughing.

"Jack! What did you do?" Capricorn asked when he rounded the corner and saw Babytooth and me.

"I just showed her the beauty in life." I said not sure what was happening.

"Well Archer's run off again!" Capricorn was panicking. I could see it as could everyone else in the room. The yetis, elves, fairies and of course us, the Guardians. I sighed and put a hand on his bare shoulder. It was quite warm. I saw him shiver from the contact.

"You need to calm down. She honestly seemed better when she left." I said to the boy.

"Are you sure?" He asked me sounding needy which I suppose he was. I nodded. "I trust you Jack."

"If Frostbite says she's fine then I imagine she is. Jack may play pranks and practical jokes but when it comes to something as serious as this, you can trust him with yer life." Bunny assured Capricon. North nodded along with Sandy while Bunny spoke.

"You aren't giving them trouble are you Cap?" A voice asked. I recognized it. Capricorn's face lit up and he rushed behind me as I spun. He almost tackled Archer but she sidestepped him and grabbed him by his arm and pulling him into a softer hug.

"Archy!" Capricorn squealed in relief. He pulled away and held her at arms length to look her over. "You don't look well but you don't look dead anymore."

"Well thanks Cap. You always were sweet with the ladies." Sarcasm just dripped from her voice and made me chuckle. I could hear Bunny give a snort of laughter. North just smiled with Sandy and Tooth was giggling and squealing her delight in seeing the brother and sister reunited happily.

"He's right though Archer, you do look a little pale." North said.

"I have a very pale complexion." Archer waved the big man off. "Comes from hiding in the shadows."

"I wouldn't worry about it." I winked at her and she laughed. "I mean you're no paler than me." North sighed and Archer howled with laughter. Capricorn was smiling at his sister and chuckling.

"Thank you Jack." Capricorn came up to me and said very quietly. "You brought my sister back to life."

"No, Cap. I just reminded her why she was doing what she was doing. You convinced her to stay in the land of the living." I told him solemnly.

"Come on Cap. We have a holiday to do and we don't have much time." Archer said spreading her wings. I hadn't seen her walk over to the window but she'd gotten there and it didn't matter as long as she was better.

"I'm coming!" Capricorn practically bounced over to her in his excitement. "Let's go!" He gave a cry and jumped out the window his sister following him shortly with a yell.

"You idiot!" She had his hands and was working to pull him up and fly off.

"Sorry Archy. I forgot I couldn't fly here. Bye North! Bye Jack! Bye Bunny, Sandy and Tooth!" Capricorn called before they disappeared in the blizzard that was happening outside at the moment.

"Well done Jack." Bunny patted my shoulder.

"Tell us what happened Jack!" Tooth fluttered over and hovered in front of me excitedly. A few fairies fluttered and chirped anxiously by her. I smiled and shook my head.

"It wasn't something to be shared. Archer is strong and has a purpose in her life that she strongly believes in. I don't think she'd want me to tell you what happened." I grinned. "Besides there's a blizzard out there that needs me!" I grinned before following Archery's example and jumping out the window.

"Jack!" I heard North and Bunny yell but when I looked back Sandy was just waving merrily to me through the window. I waved back with a smirk and went off to find the two winged siblings hoping they would let me help them. Little did I know how much help they really needed to have some fun!


End file.
